Train your brain at Learning RX

A new learning center in Brentwood is ready to transform brains—and lives—with cognitive skills.

Written By: Nashville Lifestyles

Photographers: Supplied

As the sounds of metronomes, tapping, and music fill the room, it would seem nearly impossible to concentrate on anything—let alone solve math equations. Welcome to LearningRx, a brain-training center that exercises your most valuable muscle.

“When people say they have a learning struggle, 80 percent of the time it isn’t a knowledge problem—it’s a problem in core skills,” says Adam Butler, executive director of LearningRx Murfreesboro and the recently opened LearningRx Nashville-Brentwood.

The LearningRx franchise comprises more than 90 centers in the United States and 30 international locations. Butler and his wife, Bridgette, purchased the existing Murfreesboro location last August and opened the Nashville-Brentwood location in October after discovering the positive effects of brain training. “On average, you get a one-year gain for each year that you’re working with a tutor,” Adam Butler says. “At LearningRx, we get three-year gains in six months.”

The LearningRx program is designed for ages four-and-a-half and up. Clientele includes children, parents, seniors, those with a traumatic brain injury, and athletes, and the programs are designed to help with reading, attention, focus, and memory. “The beauty of it is that it works for everybody,” Bridgette Butler says. “It’s just been really wonderful to immerse myself into something where I feel like I’m definitely making a difference for children and adults.”

Even the Nashville Predators have taken to a form of brain training: The team sends its goalies to the Vision Performance Center to keep their eyes sharp and help them become faster at decision-making. And high-school athletes benefit from LearningRx by improving their skills on the court and on the field—while making significant strides in the classroom. Before starting any program, students undergo an assessment to find out the basis of their learning challenges. “It’s not a one-size-fits-all kind of program; it’s custom-tailored to what your struggles are,” Adam Butler notes.

The program cost varies depending on the student’s needs: type, length, and delivery method of program. The initial assessment costs $249.

“Not many people know about cognitive skills training,” says Miranda Megill, director of training. “So often the struggles [that] kids and adults are having are really cognitively based and they don’t know that. They don’t understand there really is this solution.”

As the Nashville-Brentwood center gets its footing, the Butlers hope it will continue to make a difference in the lives of every student. “I just want more people to know about us,” Adam Butler says. “It’s a different way of coming at it. It’s a different way of solving a problem and—provided it’s a cognitive issue—there is no better way.”